MONTEGO BAY, St James — Chief executive officer (CEO) of the Firearm Licensing Authority (FLA) Shane Dalling says Tuesday’s brazen exchange of gunfire by two men in busy Sam Sharpe Square is proof of the flaw in suggestions that more licensed firearm holders will help curb crime.

While stressing that he could not confirm that the men are licensed firearm holders, as reported by the police, Dalling condemned their actions.

“I can make a general comment that, if this is really two licensed firearm holders acting in this manner, it is frightening, for one; and it tells you that what we have in Jamaica is a gun culture,” he told the Jamaica Observer when contacted for a reaction.

Pedestrians flinched in surprise and fear as gunshots echoed in Montego Bay’s congested Sam Sharpe Square about 1:00 pm on Tuesday.

In a video that has been widely circulated, a man in a red shirt, gun in his right hand, can be seen limping in between cars in a line of traffic. He appears to be shot. Three more shots then ring out as the limping man and onlookers try to find cover. According to Observer sources, the incident stemmed from road rage.

Both men were injured during the altercation and, up to press time, they were in hospital under police guard. Their injuries are not considered life-threatening. One of the men is a civil servant.

“The… school of thought that if we give more persons guns, then it would solve the crime problem. But you’d be shifting the problem from one where the police are shooting after criminals in that manner to licence holders behaving like… what you see in that video. And sooner or later, we’d be having cases like what you’re seeing in the United States. Because with a culture where people do not know how to resolve simple disputes, they resort to violence,” said Dalling.

The FLA will now wait for the police to conclude their investigations then decide how to proceed if the men are licensed firearm holders, he said. On Tuesday evening acting head of the St James police, Superintendent Carlos Russell said investigations were at an early stage and there was not much information he could provide on the incident.

Speaking, based on the video being circulated, Dalling blasted the shooters.

“What you are seeing there are wild actions of persons, shooting at each other like they are at the OK Corral, and therefore it is now a matter for the police in the first instance to investigate and carry criminal charges,” said Dalling.

“Yes, the FLA will cause an investigation to be done notwithstanding the criminal investigation being done by the police. And we are not prejudicing the investigation of the police, but we work to review the actions of the individuals, not with a view to determine criminality, but to see that the person remains a fit and proper person to continue holding a firearm,” he explained.

Tuesday’s shooting comes at a time, he said, when the FLA is looking to strengthen its protocols on how gun licences are issued.